The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55, 1690-1691: Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century

In Short

This volume gathers early historical records, mission reports, and ethnological surveys compiled by Spanish religious orders in the Philippine Islands during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Focusing on the brief period between 1690 and 1691 alongside expansive appendixes by Jesuit, Augustinian, and Franciscan chroniclers, the text details native customs, legal systems, religious practices, and regional warfare. It endures as a primary source for understanding how early European writers documented, categorized, and attempted to transform the indigenous societies of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

The Story

The narrative arc of the volume begins with a brief official account of political and administrative affairs in Manila from 1690 to 1691. Following the death of Archbishop Pardo, the Spanish colonial administration and religious orders navigate lingering ecclesiastical disputes and internal governance struggles, revealing the fragile institutional stability of the colony during this period.

From these localized administrative records, the focus expands into a sweeping ethnological survey of the diverse native populations inhabiting the archipelago. Chroniclers like Francisco Colin and Francisco Combés trace the origins and migratory patterns of various regional groups. They theorize connections between the tattooed Visayan people—frequently designated by Europeans as the Pintados—and communities across Macassar, Ternate, and the wider Pacific, examining how physical features, body art, and linguistic traits suggest historical trade networks and migrations.

The central narrative movement shifts south to Mindanao and Joló, where Jesuit pioneer Francisco Combés documents the political intrigues, dynastic struggles, and armed conflicts defining the region. The text details the rise of native leaders like Paguian Tindig, who sought alliances with Spanish forces in Manila to defend his reign against his rival cousin Adasaolan and Islamic authorities in Mindanao. Here, the arc depicts a frontier characterized by sophisticated regional warfare, where indigenous warriors wear impenetrable armor made of elephant hide, wield specialized head-splitting cutlasses known as campilans, and utilize blowpipes loaded with deadly botanical poisons.

The chronicle then transitions into detailed observations of everyday indigenous life, governance, and spiritual traditions. Writers record the structure of local communities organized under barangay chiefs, analyzing social hierarchies, slave manumission ceremonies, dowry customs, and the veneration of ancestral spirits called anitos or divatas. The narrative details how local judicial systems function without formal paperwork, relying instead on oaths, terrifying imprecations, and ordeals involving hot coals or boiling water.

Finally, the text reaches the early eighteenth century with the controversial writings of Fray Gaspar de San Agustín and Franciscan chronicler Juan Francisco de San Antonio. San Agustín presents a harsh critique of native character and social habits, prompting counter-arguments and commentary from fellow religious figures like Father Delgado and Father Pedro Murillo Velarde. The volume concludes by documenting native methods of timekeeping—measuring days by the sun, months by the moon, and years by agricultural harvests—showing how indigenous life persisted alongside European systems.

How It Unfolds

Ecclesiastical disputes in Manila Official reports from June 1691 record administrative tension and religious controversies following the death of Archbishop Pardo. These opening documents outline the uneasy balance between military governors and church authorities controlling the colony.

Tracing the origin of the Pintados Jesuit writers explore theories regarding the origin of tattooed islanders in the Visayas and Camarines. They compare Visayan body arts to accounts from the Pacific and Asia, attempting to map regional migrations.

Conflict in the southern islands Francisco Combés records dynastic rivalries in Basilan and Joló involving Paguian Tindig and Adasaolan. Tindig travels to Manila to secure Spanish military aid after facing betrayal and siege.

Observations on native warfare and armor Chroniclers detail the military tactics of southern warriors, describing elephant-hide armor, poisoned blowpipe darts, and head-striking cutlasses. Spanish forces adapt to local combat methods and traditional poison antidotes.

Customs of slavery, dowries, and spirits The survey documents daily social structures, including cabalangay labor arrangements and formal manumission banquets. It records beliefs in ancestral anitos, household gods, and sacred burial sites.

Debating native character and law Eighty years of missionary commentary culminate in Fray Gaspar de San Agustín's controversial letter analyzing indigenous behavior. Subsequent religious commentators annotate his claims, debating the fairness of his conclusions.

The People

• Paguian Tindig: A noble prince from the southern islands who seeks freedom from family oppression. He establishes control in Joló, aligns himself as a tributary subject to the Spanish crown, and travels to Manila to secure military support against his treacherous cousin.
• Adasaolan: The cousin of Paguian Tindig who marries into the royal family of Mindanao. Influenced by regional Islamic leaders, he turns against Tindig, surrounding his home with four hundred men in an attempt to usurp power over the island.
• Francisco Colin, S.J.: A Jesuit chronicler whose early manuscript Labor evangélica provides foundational ethnological descriptions of Tagalog and Visayan customs, ancestor worship, and spiritual traditions.
• Francisco Combés, S.J.: A pioneer Jesuit missionary in Mindanao and Joló whose historical writings supply direct accounts of southern political rivalries, local military equipment, and judicial trials by ordeal.
• Gaspar de San Agustín, O.S.A.: An Augustinian friar writing in 1720 whose detailed letter offers an intricate yet sharp critique of Filipino character, social habits, and covert resistance to Spanish authority.
• Juan Francisco de San Antonio, O.S.F.: A Franciscan chronicler writing in 1738 who categorizes indigenous social structures, legal practices, and traditional methods of measuring time and seasons.

In Its Own Voice

"The Visayans called them divata, and the Tagálogs anito. Of those idols some had jurisdiction over the mountains and open country, and permission was asked from them to go thither."

This passage from Francisco Colin describes the traditional spiritual hierarchy and veneration of nature spirits observed across different island regions.

"They have no delays by reports or prolixity of writs, for they do not waste a single dedo of paper in that."

Francisco Combés reflects on the swiftness of indigenous judicial proceedings, which relied on oral testimony and traditional oaths rather than written legal documentation.

"They knew of the division into months or years by moons. Consequently, in order to designate the date of payment, they said 'in so many moons, in so many harvests, or in so many fruitings of such and such a tree.'"

Juan Francisco de San Antonio outlines how native communities measured time and seasonal economic agreements using natural cycles prior to European contact.

What It's Really About

This volume is fundamentally about the challenge of translation—how European religious orders attempted to interpret, categorize, and govern cultures vastly different from their own. Beneath the record of missionary work lies an examination of power, law, and indigenous resistance. The writers document native customs through a lens of imperial conversion, yet their detailed accounts reveal resilient native structures, such as the practice of mabibig (keeping village secrets from colonial officials) and the preservation of ancestral worship under the guise of local tradition. The text illustrates how indigenous islanders maintained their social cohesion, law, and identity while navigating Spanish political dominance and religious authority.

Why Read It Today

This text appeals to historians, anthropologists, and readers interested in early modern colonial history, Southeast Asian studies, and historical primary sources. It reads not as a single continuous novel, but as a textured archival tapestry, combining official government reports, military histories, and detailed ethnological field notes.

Readers must approach the work with an understanding of its inherent historical difficulties. The prose reflects seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European attitudes, containing deep religious biases, paternalistic viewpoints, and period-specific ethnic generalizations. Furthermore, the narrative structure is fragmented across multiple contributors rather than following a single protagonist.

Despite these challenges, what remains with the reader is the astonishing detail with which native life was recorded. From the construction of regional armor and poisoned weaponry to the delicate phrasing of traditional timekeeping by the fruiting of trees, the book provides an indispensable window into the pre-colonial and early colonial Philippines.